Plant Milkweed to Save Money

A monarch chrysalis hangs from a leaf of common milkweed.(1)

You may have seen Texas Beeworks on YouTube. Her entertaining shorts have garnered tens of millions of views.(2) Unlike any hive removal I have ever seen, she wears no protection, she uses smoke only rarely, and she takes great lengths to find the queen and ensure that she is protected. It is as if the bees can sense her intentions. All of the hives are carefully removed and relocated. But why is any of this necessary? Why do the bees need saving?

This is not some fruity cause with no practical value. This is as much about economics as it is about creating an environment desirable for us humans. Our crops need pollinators. The FDA estimates that “bee pollination accounts for about $15 billion in added crop value.”(3) If we have pollinators everywhere in abundance, there will be flowering plants and fruits in abundance, and they will also be of greater quality. As it stands however, the bees, and the butterflies as well, are suffering significant and even critical decline.(4) Many species of bees have disappeared entirely.(5)

“Oh, but the government will take care of that.” Really? Will the government take care of it? Well, if they do get around to it, there is no guarantee that their solution will be effective in eliminating the problem. The only guarantee when government intervenes is that it will cost a lot of money, and that the bill will be passed to us as taxes.

For example, between 2002 and 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency spent more than $92 million on office furniture alone, including $813 on a pencil drawer, and $4,047 on a single “Herman Miller chair with adjustable arms, swivel, lumbar, caster and tilt.”(6) This is the same Environmental Protection Agency which people are hoping will save the bees.

Whether or not the government decides to intervene, in America the People should take it upon themselves to do as much as they can without the help of government.

The easiest way to solve this issue would be for lots of us to plant milkweed. Milkweed is well known to those who love the monarch butterfly. The monarch butterfly is a critical American pollinator which migrates South during the cold months to places like South Florida. The monarchs follow a migration corridor which has classically been populated by plants rich in nectar, marking the route like waypoints on a map.(7) As land has been developed by humans, those plants have disappeared, leaving the butterflies confused and stranded, ultimately leading to serious decline in monarch populations.

Monarchs take a multi-generational journey. Eastern monarchs are only monarchs in the world known to have an adventure spanning so many generations.(7)

Milkweed in particular is critical for monarch migration. Monarch caterpillars will only eat milkweed.(8) Since milkweed is loved by both monarch butterflies and bees, I consider it best to save two bugs with one plant.(9) Milkweed is easy to grow and easy to maintain. If everyone had some milkweed in their yard, populations would begin to explode, crops would grow like crazy, we would all be a little richer, and that’s the honey right there.

Update (July 28, 2023): It is recommended that you plant milkweed plants that are native to your area. The most common Floridian milkweed plant is Asclepias tuberosa. Read more here.(10)

Sources:

Brandon Gagne, Ready to Work